Operation Summer Fun!

I am going to be totally honest here… I feel like I have been a lazy parent lately. Our family was pretty busy in March & April, so the past few weekends we have been just hanging around the house & relaxing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… but with summer upon us I am making a conscious effort to do one different & memorable activity with the kids every weekend.

I want summer to FEEL like summer for my kids, even though my husband and I work full time. Because of that, June & July isn’t really THAT different for them. My daughter still goes to daycare and my son will go to camp… which is basically like going to after-care, but all day long. So I have decided to be proactive and focus a bit more on making those summer memories each weekend. Crafts, fun recipes, day trips… anything and everything to make this summer ROCK! I have been talking to my stay-at-home mommy friends, and most of them have a detailed plan of summer activities they will be doing with their kids… which inspired me to try and do the same! I am calling it Operation Summer Fun and this blog is going to help keep me accountable.

I told my husband about my plan and he was all for it. He agreed we have been a bit lax in the weekend planning department. So we kicked it off this weekend! On Saturday, instead of hanging out at our pool, we stepped it up a notch and went to a local splash pad with the kids. It was so much fun since the place was basically empty. The splash pad and pool wasn’t too cold and the kids LOVED it. Mila & Hudson spent the entire time running up the stairs and sliding down the water slide. I didn’t take any pictures, except one… since I wanted to document my moment to myself, which was very nice! Mila passed out on the floor at 5:30pm while I was making dinner, which is proof of a fun day.

Splash pad fun with a little ME time!

It’s been awhile since we took the kids to the beach, so when Donnie’s brother brought up the idea we were all for it. Sunday morning, we packed the car with what looked like a week’s worth of items. Food, towels, clothes, hats, umbrellas, coolers, and an entire watermelon. We quickly remembered why our beach trips are few and far between! While it is a lot of work, there is something really special about spending the day at the beach, especially with family and friends. Nothing beats watching my kids and nephews digging in the sand, jumping over waves and boogie boarding in the surf. Mila screamed and laughed with excitement as I carried her out into the water where her brother was swimming. It was perfect.

All of my loves!

Beach babes!

Jumping the waves

Loving the sun & sand!

Major PHOTOBUM!

Don’t get me wrong, I think it if FINE for kids to hang out at home, and I don’t feel like they should be entertained every moment. This isn’t about that. I just want to challenge myself to step it up this summer when it comes to planning out fun things with the kids… and I figured maybe some of you are feeling the same.

Now that Operation Summer Fun is off and running, I want to hear about all the summer fun YOU are having with your families as well! I am going to be using the hashtag #OperationSummerFun on social media and I would love for you to join in! Use the same hashtag so I can find what you are doing, & I will be featuring my favorites on the blog. (& linking back if you have a blog/business!) So let’s have some fun!

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How fun, and what a great idea! We both work full time also so it is hard to remember that for the little ones this is their "summer vacation." My husband and I were talking this weekend and both agreed that we will try to get to the beach as much as possible this year so it really feels like summer for all of us. Can't wait to see what you and your family get into!

Yeah I just needed some extra motivation since the summer is really the same for us… but it doesn't feel that way for this kids. I figured if I put it out there I would be more likely to stick to it! haha! 😉

I love this idea! As a two working parent household we're pretty similar – but we have two holiday weeks planned which I hope will help. And my kids are in daycare together for the summer with their friends which I hope helps too! – Look forward to seeing how your "project" goes! – Louise

We have a summer bucket list so we're not at home all day, every day as well. There's nothing wrong with being home, but we just want to get out some. I need to see if there are any splash pads in the area. Love those!

Looks like you are off to a great start!! As parents we do have to make the conscious decision to plan and make it happen..sometimes being spontaneous and go with the flow works too…but I agree, it is SO worth it to get out and let them experience things and just have fun!

We kept waiting for him to move.. but the kids were not going to stand like that much longer so we just said screw it! We couldnt really see what he was doing back there since the sun was so bright but when we zoomed in we could NOT STOP LAUGHING!!

Nice post. I'm in a similar boat with the hubby and I working full-time. We need to make more of a concerted effort to make the weekends more fun and different as well. That was a nice looking splash pad, BTW…

This sounds like a great plan! Your beach day looks like it was so much fun! And I can't get over that photo bomber-hilarious!! I will definitely join in with the hashtag, we don't have specific plans yet, but I know it's going to be a fun summer!

Sounds fun! Your splash pad looks awesome! I found a splash pad about 10 minutes from our home that is hardly crowded at all and its free. My kids love it. We try to go to the beach a lot because I can't handle the 100 degree weather.

That splash pad looks awesome! And how funny was that photobum 🙂 Enjoy the summer, looks like you're off to a great start! I posted about our Summer Bucket List today and I think I"m more excited than the kids for summer to start!

Growing up here I know I totally take the beach for granted… we NEVER go and everytime we do we always say how lucky we are to have it so close and that we should go more often… then another year flies by! ha! Enjoy your Florida summer!

I am so jealous. We live in the midwest, so our "beaches" look way different. Oh well. I loved the post, and I too want to find more fun things to do with kids this summer. I will be checking out blogs for inspiration.

I adore this post and your mindset. I have big plans for us this summer too because this is Connor's last summer before starting school for the next 16+ years so I am going to make the very most of every minute we have together.

I often have a lot of mommy guilt about this from my son's younger years. Now that he's a middle schooler, he doesn't want to hang out with me at all. SAD FACE. So I'm trying to plan more things just for him and his friends in hopes he'll have a great summer!